@frangipani, maybe your stepson will be out late a few nights and you and your DH could go to bed early???

@daisychain, as was previously said, the midwives will refer you for extra tests if they are at all worried about symptoms that might show an elevated risk, or will transfer your file over to an OBGYN if you end up with a high-risk pregnancy -like if you have gestational diabetes or something like that. I was followed by a midwife for baby #1 and at every visit, they checked my urine (for elevated protein & sugar levels) and the baby's heart rate, the same way they did at the doctor's. But, they also spent an hour with me chatting about my fears, concerns, swollen feet, cravings etc etc. When I first went to see the OBGYN (because there's a waiting list to get a midwife here) she spent 5 minutes with me and answered my questions so fast I had no idea what she said. It sounded like she was repeating memorized answers that she had already said 50, 0000 times and could care less about what I thought about anything. Going to the midwife was MUCH more personal.

@Rowan, DH says that you have to apply for a visa or permanent residency status before moving. You have to apply to the city/state you want to live in, in Australia, rather than to the country. He also said that he knows several people who applied to move to Melbourne or Sydney but were rejected, however, applying to a place like Adelaide, where there is apparently a shortage of skilled labour, you are more likely to be accepted. That's what his parents did.

Sorry to intrude--I'm not TTC, but I love following this thread to see what I might be going through in a few years! I just wanted to pop in because I recently moved to Australia from the US via a partner visa, so it'd be different from what you'd want to do RGE, but I thought you might find this link useful: http://www.immi.gov.au/visawizard/. It's a "Visa Wizard" which tells you which visas you'd be eligible for given your particular circumstances. Thought it might be a good first step.

On a side note, the prices quoted in that article are horrifying. We were debating moving back to the States at some point, but I can guarantee now that "some point" will be after the kids are born if it happens at all. I never imagined the price of a birth would be quite that high!

Hey ladies! I've been lurking on here for a while now, but am finally outing myself to join this thread. My husband has been set on waiting until our 2nd anniversary in the fall to TTC, but yesterday I convinced him of the logic of going off the Pill a few months early to allow my cycles to regulate. So only a few more weeks of pills and it's go time! We'll be not officially "trying" at first, but still, it's a step forward. Can you tell I'm excited?

Also, @milasmama, I'm curious as to whereabouts you lived in Malaysia. My husband is from there (though he's Chinese, not Malay) and I'm dying to see the country one day.

WelcomeMaggie! I'm excited for you too! My DH is also Chinese but from Singapore (but grew up in Australia). In my experience, trying without trying is more fun than the really trying hard part. Hopefully you won't get to that point (or me either this time around!).